Clothes-washing apparatus.



PATENTED NOV. 15, 1904.

0. D. GLOUTIER. CLOTHES WASHING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED DEOZS, 1903.

N0 MODEL.

Patented November 15 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

OSFJLINE D. CLOUTIER, OF LEOMINSTER, MASSACHUSETTS.

. CLOTHES-WASHING APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 775,126, dated November 15, 1904.

Application filed December 26, 1903. Serial No. 186,662. (No model.)

To [tZZ whom it may concern:

Be itknown that I, OsnLINn D. CLonTIER, of Leominster, in the county of Worcester and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Clothes- WVashing Apparatus; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

This invention relates to washing apparatus, and particularly to a device for agitating clothes in a receptacle containing water.

An object of the invention is to provide a clothes agitator or pounder in which the water is permitted to gain access to the interior as the water is pressed from the clothes, it being found in practice that the water pressed through the meshes of the fabric acts to carry the dirt therefrom and serves to cleanse the garment.

Furthermore, an object of the invention is to provide novel means for preventing splashing of the water as it is pressed from the clothes, the said water being directed to the interior of the device, where it is confined by a suitable cover.

Furthermore, an object of the invention is to provide a pounder of the character noted having a corrugated or fluted body, the ribs thereof having a series of apertures extending from top to bottom for the passage of water.

With the foregoing and other objects in view the invention consists in the details of construction and the arrangement and combination of parts, to be hereinafter more fully set forth and specifically claimed.

In describing the invention in detail reference will be had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, wherein like characters denote corresponding parts in the several views, in which Figure 1 is a view in elevation of the agitator or pounder embodying the invention. Fig. 2 is a top plan thereof with the cover removed. Fig. 3 illustrates a bottom plan with the upper portion broken away. Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on the line a b of Fig. 3.

In the drawings, A indicates the body, which is flared toward the top and is provided with a series of corrugations a, extending from top to bottom, the said corrugations being flared toward the top. Two handles (fare connected to the body in any suitable manner. A cover a fits the top of the body A and serves to prevent splashing of the water passing through the perforations (1 which perforations are formed entirely around the body. A bottom a has perforations a for the passage of the water. A rod a passes through the center of the bottom and extends upwardly and has its upper end formed into a loop a, which embraces the cross-braces a" at their intersection.

The body is provided with a base-flange 7), which flares toward the bottom and serves to deflect the water toward the openings in the bottom a. A series of cross-ribs 7f depend from the under surface of the bottom a? and terminate on a line with the base-flange If, it being understood that the ends of the said ribs terminate against the inner wall of the said base-flange, to which the said ends are secured in any suitable manner.

The lower edges of the ribs have beads or heads which are of slightly-increased area than the width of the ribs. This construction increases the bearing-surface of the ribs and prevents undue wear on the clothes.

In practice a receptacle is partially filled with water and the clothes are placed therein with a suitable detergent. The operator then grasps the two handles a and at the same time causes his hands to so engage the cover a as to retain it against displacement while the device is manipulated. As the clothes are pressed by the bottom of the device the clothes adjacent to those pressed will be buoyed up somewhat by the action of the water. The device is then elevated and moved to one side and again pressed into contact with the clothes, and this operation is repeated, the position of the device being changed according to the position of the clothes within the receptacle, it being desirable to have the device contact with that portion of the clothes which are highest, as thereby the more pronounced is the action of the water and the volume of the water passing through the fabric is increased.

The construction,operation, and advantages will, it is thought, be understood from the foregoing description, it being understood that various changes may be resorted to in the proportion and details of construction for successfully carrying the invention into practice Without departing from the scope.

Having fully described the invention, What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

In a combined receptacle and pounder, a body having an outwardly-tapered contour With corrugated sides and a flared base the side Wall and bottom of the receptacle having perforations, ribs depending from the bottom and having their ends anchored to the inner surface of the base, a Vertically-disposed rod run through the center of the bot- OSFILINE D. CLOUTIER. [a 8.]

Witnesses:

THOMAS S. OLoU'rIER, O. A. TAFT. 

